


Going to Market

by JediDiplomat



Category: Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-11
Updated: 2011-08-11
Packaged: 2017-10-22 12:50:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/238184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediDiplomat/pseuds/JediDiplomat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Obi-Wan finds himself going to market</p>
            </blockquote>





	Going to Market

It was noisy. That was the first thing I noticed. It was loud, dusty, hot and chaotic. The perfect place for me to hide. And hide was exactly what I needed. I also needed food, which is what brought me to the market in the first place. Mentally I counted what little credits I had. I had to find a money changer. I just hoped I could find one that would take Republic credits. If I was lucky, the people of this tiny dust ball hadn't heard that Republic credits weren't good anymore and would change it for whatever local currency they used here. If they used local currency.

It took awhile, but I finally managed to find someone that was willing to exchange the credits for the local currency which, I think, is whoopie. At least, I think that's what the man said. He took my money and gave me something that looked like what the shoppers had. I frowned as I counted the money again, wondering for the umpteenth time what exactly was the exchange rate. Being a Jedi, I would have thought I was above being swindled, but well, I'm trying hard to not be a Jedi. That's what got me in this mess to begin with.

Sighing, I went to a counter that had some kind of animal trussed up and gutted behind it. Squinting and tilting my head left, I decided that almost looked like an eopie. A very small eopie. I supposed it was better than tauntaun, but it definitely wasn't the cafeteria on Coruscant. I browsed the booth, wondering how to get the attention of the old woman standing behind it, who was busy chopping the animal into pieces.

"Hi chuba da naga?"

I looked at the woman and blinked. I'm familiar with at least 4 languages and that was nothing like any of them. I was expecting her to speak Basic. It was the intergalactic language of commerce. Except, apparently, here. Briefly I wondered if the Emperor would change that as well. He seemed hell bent on destroying everything else.

"Hi chuba da naga?" she repeated.

Shaking my head, I answered, "I don't understand."

The woman shook her head and gestured to the meat around her.

"Oh, uh...that one," I replied as I point to a medium sized piece of meat.

The woman nodded and picked up the slab. She chopped off a small piece and held it out to me. I frowned, wondering exactly what she wanted me to do now.

"Killee noah tee-tocky."

This wasn't going to work. I had no idea what this woman is saying to me and I had no way to communicate with her. I dared not use the Force, the training bond was never fully broken. I'd tried. Force only knows how hard I'd tried, but He wouldn't allow it. He'll know and He'll track me to this blasted dirtball and then...then He would find him. He would know. The only reason I was on this planet. The only reason I bothered to come to this market in the first place.

The woman's face softened and as she held the meat, she moved it toward me. Did I want it?

I nodded, and she smiled showing me her missing teeth in the process.

"Goba woopui," she told me, cocking her head to the side. No doubt she thought I was some crazy man. She probably had something there.

I pulled what little money I had out of my pocket and showed it to her. She pointed to one of the coins, "Hunto."

I nodded, praying she was telling me the denomination of the coin, "Hunto."

She nodded and pointed to another coin, this one smaller and reddish, "Fwanna."

"Fwanna."

"Goba. Fwanna, bo, bo, bo," she told me, holding up four fingers and then adding one finger for each "bo."

"Seven!" I told her as my breath left in a rush. At least I could still do simple math. I picked up the smallest coin I had and held it up to her, "bo?"

"Tagwa," she replied nodding.

As I counted out the coins, I thought maybe this rock wasn't as bad as I first thought. At least I knew a few of my numbers now. I wandered the market, taking in the scents and the flavors offered. I wasn't sure exactly what was available. It had been over a decade since I had been here, and then it wasn't me who wandered the market.

I swallowed hard, trying not to think of the man that raised me. He would have loved the market. My master wasn't much of a linguist, languages baffled him but it never seemed to matter. What he couldn't manage in Basic, he managed to say in a combination of Basic and hand gestures. Never let it be said that my master was bad at charades.

My nose led me to a stand covered with sandy colored fabric. There the counter was filled to overflowing with fruit. I wondered where the merchant had gotten the fruit from. This was a dust ball, literally. With the presence of the dual suns and the planet's position in relation to them, vegetation was scarce and water even more so. Nevertheless I found myself in front of the stand and staring at a black skinned fruit about the size of a child's fist. It looked ready to explode from the juice it contained and I knew it was ripe. I just wanted to know how sick I would get if I ate it.

It was my favorite fruit, the only one that could induce me to cut in line at the cafeteria at meal time. Staring at the fruit, I felt tears pick my eyes. Memories sprang to mind. Friends long dead, Bant shaking her head in fond amusement as the juice ran down my chin. Reeft and I fighting over the last fruit before Garen cut in it half, to the horror of us both.

Blinking rapidly I looked up at the Ithorian merchant. Picking up the barabel fruit, I pointed to the small calculator, hoping he would get the drift.

"Fwanna," it replied.

I handed over the money and sank my teeth into the fruit. It no longer mattered where it had come from or even if it was safe to eat. All that mattered was that it was here and I was here. My old life wasn't lost, merely hidden. And for now, that was all right.

~fin

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains actual Huttese. Nope, I did not make it up.


End file.
